best albums of 2008: 10-6
10 Thao, We Brave Bee Stings and All
09 Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
08 The Walkmen, You and Me
07 Terakaft, Akh issudar
06 Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
The only real surprise here is the Terakaft record, which I have been madly in love with for most of the past three or four months. The others? Standard indie, albums you’ve seen on a lot of lists. The one exception to that might be the Thao, which I think, along with Bon Iver, will be one of the records from this year that really sticks around, a record that people remember. I think it’s that good. And the Walkmen, absolutely. Same with Frightened Rabbit. Just records that embody all that we love about music. And Bon Iver. Believe it or not, I’m the only Bon Iver fan in the editorial department, but I won out. There’s just something so special about his music; his appeal is without limits.
Okay, final guess time. What’s missing? What will make the Top Five?
And just a reminder of where we’ve been:
88 DJ/rupture, Uproot
87 Benoit Pioulard, Temper
86 Bobby Watson, From the Heart
85 Mr. Scruff, Ninja Tuna
84 Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires
83 The Avett Brothers, The Second Gleam
82 Zomby, Where Were U in ’92?
81 Olof Arnalds, Vio og vio
80 Jenny Scheinman, Jenny Scheinman
79 The Mole, High As the Sky
78 Fredrik, Na Na Ni
77 Juana Molina, Un Dia
76 Various Artists, Nigeria 70
75 twi the humble feather, Music for Spaceships and Forests
74 Rainbow Arabia, The Basta
73 She and Him, Volume One
72 Bang on a Can All-Stars, Music for Airports Live
71 Otis Redding, Live in London & Paris
70 James Blackshaw, Litany of Echoes
69 Ladyhawke, Ladyhawke
68 Black Mountain, In the Future
67 Cut Off Your Hands, Happy As Can Be
66 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Emmanuel
65 John Ellis, Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
64 Boduf Songs, How Shadows Chase the Balance
63 Huun-Huur-Tu, Mother Earth! Father Sky!
62 Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping
61 Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
60 Simone Dinnerstein, The Berlin Concert
59 Studio, Yearbook 2
58 Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson
57 Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
56 The Kills, Midnight Boom
55 Kurt Vile, Constant Hitmaker
54 2562, Aerial
53 Breathe Owl Breathe, Ghost Glacier EP
52 The Fireman, Electric Arguments
51 Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances
50 Blacklisted, Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God
49 Eliza Carthy, Dreams of Breathing Underwater
48 Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80, S/T
47 Top Choice Clique, Reel Chemistry
46 Army Navy, Army Navy
45 Chris Knight, Heart of Stone
44 Paul Lewis, Beethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 4
43 Elzhi, The Preface
42 Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
41 Avishai Cohen Trio, Gently Disturbed
40 Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza
39 British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music
38 Kayhan Kalhor, Silent City
37 Liam Finn, I’ll Be Lightning
36 Marco Benevento, Invisible Baby
35 Horse Feathers, House With No Name
34 Crystal Stilts, Alight of Night
33 Valery Gergiev, Mahler Symphony No. 3
32 The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
31 Richard Swift, Ground Trouble Jaw
30 She Keeps Bees, Nests
29 The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
28 Let’s Wrestle, In Loving Memory Of…
27 Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
26 Beach House, Devotion
25 Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
24 Pete and the Pirates, Little Death
23 Osmo Vanska, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7
22 Madvillain, Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix
21 Carl Craig, Sessions
20 High Places, 03/07 – 09/07
19 Hauschka, Ferndorf
18 Portico Quartet, Knee-Deep in the North Sea
17 Jay Reatard, Matador Singles ’08
16 John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms Symphony No. 1
15 Siah & Yeshua dapoED, The Visualz Anthology
14 Santogold, Santogold
13 Deerhunter, Microcastle
12 Shearwater, Rook
11 Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
links to 10-6 are messed up.
OK they’re good now
Wow Bon Iver not in the top five! I’m still hoping for Deastro up there. I’m thinking you probably saved a spot for Au. I’d love to see Abe Vigoda, but have strong doubts that will happen. Other possibilities maybe Earth? Vivian Girls? Times New Viking? I just don’t know. (And I love not knowing.)
My worst fears have been quelled, Yancey, so whatever you guys post at this point will be fine with me.
Just post it already.
Maybe Why? will make the top 5?
The Gaslight Anthem?
Ra Ra Riot?
Ratatat?
Port O’Brien?
Maybe Basia Bullat has an outside chance? I thought that album might appear somewhere on the list…
Can’t wait to see the final picks!
The last couplet of “Lord I’m Discouraged” should alone put Stay Positive in the top 5. Will 2 supposed Springsteen-apers make it?
Au? Never got that glowing recommendation. Why use saccharine when you can have Domino sugar?
That was bad, but whatever — this list has been fun to cherry-pick.
Ra Ra Riot so better be on the top 5. I’ve come to accept that The Rosebuds and Murder by Death won’t show up, even though the albums are ultra-awesome (for lack of a better adjective).
I do like For Emma, Forever Ago. I think it’s a bit overrated, but it definitely got me to really check out these quieter indie-folk dudes, and without this album, I wouldn’t have Horse Feathers, Breathe Owl Brethe, or twittering anticipation for the new Bon Iver, so it really goes beyond the album itself, for me. I do like that my favorite tracks rotate, from Skinny Love to Re: Stacks to For Emma to Flume to Blindsided. There’s a lot to like there, and if I’m still listening to the album ages after I first downloaded it (I am), it must be some kind of good. It’s one of those albums I won’t realize I love for a few years, when I see the play counts on my iTunes and realize it’s way up there next to Red of Tooth and Claw.
I’m not sold on the Walkmen (outside of “Thinking of a Dream I Had”) or Frightened Rabbit, but I’m definitely open to them when I work my saved list down (hahahahahahahahahaha).
Great list, can’t wait for the top 5!
5. Department of Eagles
4. Last Shadow Puppets
3. Ra Ra Riot
2. Of Montreal
1. Girl Talk
Should have had Bon Iver and Santogold in the Top 5 in my opinion instead of Of Montreal and Last Shadow Puppets.
Here we are in December, and I find out just minutes ago (from reading Matt’s comment) that Basia Bulat’s record is available on eMu in the US. I remember the 17dots Polaris post (Alex’s?) didn’t indicate it as available on eMu (corrected in the comments I apparently never read), so I never downloaded it. Did I completely miss a Top 5′er for 2008? The tension is killing me.
You’re not gonna string this out with one top 5 pick a day for the next 5 days (weekends excluded), are you? Just wanted to let you know (if that’s what you’re thinking of doing) what a bad idea that would be.
I love that Terakaft disc. So glad to see quality desert blues again in the Top Ten.
Since all my other likely choices have fallen, I guess my final thought for No. 1 is: Vivian Girls (who were originally my dark-horse choice, but I really didn’t think it likely).
damn, i was predicting Walkmen at no. 1. if i worked for you guys i would have kept you in the office all night long until you bucked and put it right up there at the top of the heap where it belongs. it would be like a fanboy version of 12 angry men.
very strong top 10 shaping up. So happy to see bands like Thao and Terakaft in the top 10.
I’m excited for the top 5 and plan to be surprised. Since reissues and comps seem to be off the table, I’m hoping for a Plants and Animals mention – saw them live recently and was quite impressed and the album has still held up over the early-year street date, and has been a sound track to many family road trips.
Gang Gang Dance, Au, Paavoharju, Ponytail, Max Richter, Peter Broderick, Quiet Village, Dept of Eagles, Port o’brien, Crystal Stilts, and Daestro… while not necessarily in my top fives would seem to be all emu contenders from the leftovers, as I’m surprised that many of them haven’t shown up in the previous rankings.
I would also say it’s safe to call emu selects an overwhelming success in terms of artisitic integrity and art meeting commerce. Definitely many of the best discoveries in “indie” music albums this year for me have no doubt been emu selects – keep up the great / “fresh” work.
Missed the stilts in the previous ranking – sub in cut copy or vivian girls maybe…
“You’re not gonna string this out with one top 5 pick a day for the next 5 days”
That would be Cruel; Great and funny but VERY Cruel (do it do it HAHAHAHA)
Hurrah FR top ten (my fav of the year actually, Santogold close second)
Ok which of you beard lovers has invaded my NPR all songs considered Top songs of 2008 Podcast?!?!?!?! They keep talking about beards
My beard grows badly 
Speaking of beards, I’m hoping that Neil Halstead’s 2008 release “Oh! Mighty Engine” shows up on Emu (though little chance since he moved to Jack Johnson’s label). My favorite track is “Baby, I Grew You a Beard” –”Sitting on my own, girl, I’ve had time to grow a beard for you / Hiding out in cars I’ve been tryin’ to find a way back home to you / These California stars, girl, They’ve been hanging out for you / ‘Cause I know that you’ll love the man whose follicles are growing just for you.” Now THAT, baby, is romance.
Here’s what’s missing. Much more than 5 unfortunately.
If the Dub Trio album isn’t on the list then I must declare the pooch screwed, but the inexplicable fascination with indie rock seems to be clouding people from seeing the best albums from 2008.
All Is Yes
by The Blessing
Another Sound Is Dying
by Dub Trio
Baboon Strength
by Charlie Hunter
Balancing Lakes
by Barry Lynn
Blue Plate Special
by Will Bernard
Broken Arm
by Erik Friedlander
Crown Trunk Root Funk
by Rob Brown
Detrimentalist
by Venetian Snares
Dubstep Sessions Volume 2
by Various Artists
Eight Oh Eight
by Black Devil Disco Club
Emphasis! (On Parenthisis)
by Stanton Moore
Feed the Animals
by Girl Talk
Ghost Rock
by Nomo
Growl
by Radioactive Man
Headthrash
by Plump DJs
Lodge
by Fanu & Bill Laswell
Mistico
by Charlie Hunter Trio
Moonshine
by Dave Douglas
Mu5h / Spliff Dub
by Zomby
Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76
by Various Artists
Nude With Boots
by Melvins
ObZen
by Meshuggah
Petit Oiseau
by William Parker Quartet
Radio Retaliation
by Thievery Corporation
Repercussions
by Distance
Same As It Never Was
by The Herbaliser
Set The Alarm For Monday
by Bobby Previte & The New Bump
Sketches of MD: Live at the Iridium featuring Pharoah Sanders
by Kenny Garrett
Smile
by Boris
Staying In
by Diskjokke
The Bees Made Honey in the Lions Skull
by Earth
The Fathomless Mastery
by Bloodbath
The Formation Of Damnation
by Testament
The Sun & The Neon Light
by Booka Shade
The Way of All Flesh
by Gojira
They Live!
by Evil Nine
Traced In Air
by Cynic
Ooops I forgot one
“A Perfect Place” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
by Mike Patton
Well I’ve been pretty comprehensively wrong so far (although I love the Bon Iver Album) but here are some non Indie rock predictions..
I’m pretty confident the Quiet Village album will be in the top 5, I seem to recall somebody raving about here when it came out… Supersized by Danny Byrd is probably the best drum n bass album I’ve heard this year… Convivial by Luomo maybe…
Quick question, was the panel of the judges the same for the UK list? Only there are a couple of instances where the albums are in a different relative position (i.e. BSP a lot higher in the UK than in the USA).
Maybe the list is done? It started with the random number 88, why not end with 6? That would be awesome.
hi everybody! been sequestered in meetings all day and have missed the great discussion. so, let’s chat!
poreiux, i like a lot of the albums you’ve mentioned, and the ones i haven’t heard (sorry dub trio and sorry poreiux) i will listen to asap.
the top five will be up tomorrow morning. the first thing i’m gonna do when i wake up is turn it on, so expect it the morning.
finally, in terms of tomorrow’s top five, i will say that three of the five albums have been mentioned over the course of this discussion (including various threads here, not just this one). TWO of our top five have not even been mentioned ONCE that i can remember. that excites me a lot.
it was the same group making decisions across all sites. we believe that just as much as there are territories that determine what content you see, there is an overall eMusic culture, and so having some uniformity across lists we view as a good thing. now, the user results are going to be 1000000% by country. so the uk will only see stuff other uk folks voted for, etc. that data — which i still haven’t even seen the finals for non-us stuff yet! — should be pretty fascinating. and i will wager not massively different between sites.
ps: i love you all.
I too thank porieux, raided yr best of user list yesterday and i’m glad you set me straight on All Is Yes by The Blessing. For some reason I thought that was last year so didn’t nominate it but I do now in retrospect.
Another one I discovered too late, Virtual Landslide by Pete Molinari. Dylan meets Roy Orbison meets Gene Vincent.
I would have thought Crossing the Field by Jenny Scheinman would be up there somewhere by now — more so than her folky album although that is good so maybe that’s to come.
(I will NOT mention Justin Townes Earle because I am becoming tiresome on the topic but srsly. Best album.)
the justin townes earle is good. i agree with you, nanker.
also, in regards to zomby and fennesz and other albums like that: had they come out even a month ago, they would definitely be higher/be on here at all. but we were already so deep into making this thing that at a certain point you have to turn off your ears to the brand new. some of those titles will probably make our overlooked list, though.
ethnospane: i honestly cannot thank you enough for what you wrote about selects. you have no idea how much i needed to hear that, and what a great motivator that is. selects is an insane amount of work, and much of it is done on my own time. being rewarded with feedback like that is just awesome, and i want to thank you for it.
“TWO of our top five have not even been mentioned ONCE that i can remember. that excites me a lot.”
Well then of course the top album must be
http://www.emusic.com/album/SoundSSS-Soundsss-Jade-Ali-MP3-Download/11292647.html
Sorry I just had to link that one more time before the end of the year
that was #1, nergal, but then i discovered it’s actually a REISSUE of an orgy from 1983. that disqualified it.
okay… final guess: Mingering Mike takes it with #1. do me proud emusic!
Two words: Pillow fight.
This ^^^^ would be perfectly okay by me, but I’m not betting on it. I think Mingering Mike is the best of a very good batch of Selects artists this year. I hope he’s still recording and performing music, and producing artwork (which has a very cool, outsider/Robert Crumb quality to it).
Meh Bon Iver. Not a fan, I’m with Amishi on that one.
But happy to see the Walkman show up FINALLY!. That album made my top ten it’s about time. I’m guess I’m not going to see Rafter in the top five which is a damn shame because they so deserve it.
Wilderness, I’ll betcha. The new Wilderness will be one of the Top 5.
I think 2008 was a great year for music. Of course, they all are
…or maybe Ponytail. In keeping with the B’more vibe.
I’m kinda surprised to see the Thao that high. It’s good, but to my ears it’s not a top-tenner. I’d be very disappointed to see Skeletal Lamping–a big sprawling sonic mess if there ever was one–in the top five. I’d be thrilled to see Alopecia there. It’s my #1 of the year.
Man Porieux I totally forgot about The Blessing (and Nomo) I’ve been listening to bleach Cake over again since you mentioned it
and as I’ve got three songs off of Same as it Never was I guess I must’ve liked it (ah yes I am a cafeteria Plan eMuser
)
I’d be shocked if it was Wilderness. I’m a big fan, but this new disc didn’t arrive with that “Big Event” feel. Vivian Girls, OTOH. . . But don’t go by me, obv. I still think it’s going to be Deerhunter.
My favorite of the year was Wye Oak – If Children.
I doubt it made the top 5, b/c it certainly didn’t make the bottom 83.
Lol Adamm.. “Two words: Pillow fight.”
We’ll have to bring our own pillows for this one. I’d have liked to see Alopecia higher.